Bait feeder agitator



& 1955 T. w. MULLEN BAIT FEEDER AGITATOR Filed Aug. 3, 1954 INVENTOR,

W. MULLEN ATTORNEY Uflitfid States atent 2,725,664 BAIT FEEDER AGITATORThomas W. Mullen, Evansvile, Ind.

Original application February 2, 1952, Serial No. 269,635, now PatentNo. 2,690,023, dated September 23, 1954. Divided and this applicationAugust 3, 1954, Serial No. 447,492

4 Claims. (Cl. 43-431) This application is a division from myapplication for U. S. Letters Patent Serial No. 269,635, filed February2, 1952, and allowed February 5, 1954.

This invention applies to feeding devices wherein there is a receptacleopen at one end to have that end turned downwardly over a feed receivingpan, to allow the feed to run out or" the lower end of the receptacleand be available within the pan around the perimeter of the end of thereceptacle. In the present instance, the receptacle may carry a dryground cereal in which is incorporated a rat or mouse poison or achemical such as 3-(alphaacetonylbenzyl)-4-hydroxycoumarin, whichchemical has that property of producing or rather inducing hemorrhagingwithin the rodent eating the chemical, the hemorrhaging etfect buildingup over a period of days through continued eating of the mixture of thechemical and the cereal.

In any event, the dry rather finely ground cereal tends to bridge overin the container so that after the material which has dropped to the paninitially is eaten, the bridging effect will prevent the cereal fromdropping on down to replenish that feed in the pan.

My invention has to do with a device insertable through the end of thecontainer and resting on the fioor of the pan whereby the device will beagitated or moved about should there be a bridging effect within thecontainer, so that this device will stir up or agitate the feed withinthe container and cause it to drop down. The device is actuated by therodent attempting to secure more feed than is available in the outermostportions of the pan at least.

A primary object of the invention is first to provide an agitatingdevice which will actually break up the bridging effect, and secondlywhich will be exceedingly light in nature and readily operated by therodent in attempting to get more feed from the pan. tant object ofhaving the device made in the smallest possible form so as to beaccepted as to its presence by the rodent without being scared awaythereby. Also the device may be made at a relatively low cost and may beinserted within and removed from the container with the minimum amountof effort and without the use of any tools whatsoever.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent in the following description of one particular form thereofwhich is made in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which-Fig. l is a view in side elevation and partial section of a structureembodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a view in central vertical section on the line 2--2 in Fig. 1.

In the particular form shown herein, to which form my invention isapplied in the present instance, there is an inverted housing 15 openfrom the under side, and is provided with at least one entry opening 19.There is a cross bar 23 carried diametrically across the lower portionof the housing and supported by the side wall of the housing such as byinserting tongue-like ends 24 and 25 Also there is the importhrough thewall. On this cross bar 23 there is fixed a pan '30.

A feed or bait receptacle 33 herein shown as being a glass jar oftheMason jar type is inserted with its end 34 downwardly through the top ofthe housing 15. in the form herein shown, the jar is screw-threadedlyreceived within a tube 35 which extends downwardly to within the pan 3%,but has its lower end 36 spaced upwardly from the floor 37 of the pan30.

In practice, the jar or container 33 is removed from the engagement withthe housing 15 and the tube 35 and the feed or bait material is placedtherein and then the housing is placed thereover and screw-threadedlyengaged with the jar, and then the entire assembly is turned over tohave the open end 34 turned downwardly to allow the feed to dropdownwardly into the pan 30. That is the normal procedure and operationof the feeder or bait dispenser.

Particularly in the use of such containers where there is the offsetshoulder 38, the feed will tend to bridge across the container at thatlevel and thus prevent further dropping down of the feed into the pan30. The device embodying my invention consists simply of a single lengthof wire 33 which has a lower straight length 39 designed to rest on thefloor 37, and to have a length exceeding the diameter of the tube 35, atleast the diameter of the open end 36. From each end of the base length39, the wire turns around and inwardly by the respective loops 4i) and41 to have those lengths return a short distance through a curve 42 and43 respectively over the length 39, and then from these bends 42 and 43,the wires extend diagonally upwardly one across the other as indicatedin Fig. 1. The line of intersection of these two lengths designated bythe numerals 44 and 45 cross at an intersecting zone 46 located withinthe mouth of the receptacle 33 adjacent the lower end 34. The spacingapart of the two wires 44 and 45 by their end-s 47 and 48 is made to begreater than the diameter of the mouth 34 of the receptacle and also ofthe tube 35.

Thus in order to be able to insert these wires 44 and 45 into thereceptacle 33, they are squeezed together and pushed upwardly throughthe tube 35 and the mouth 34 and then allowed to spring apart. Thepositioning of the ends 47 and 48 are such that the distancetherebetween is a little less than the internal diameter of thereceptacle 33 so that they do not rest under a bending stress.

The device thus formed will rest in an inclined position as illustratedin Fig. 2 where the base wire 39 will be located somewhat outwardlybeyond the perimeter of the lower end 36 of the tube 35. When the rodentis working around with its mouth in the pan 30 trying to reach more feedunder the tube 35, it will necessarily have to push the base wire 39around, and particularly will come into contact with the loops 40 and 41with the result that the wire will be pushed and moved about so that theupper end portions criss-crossing through the lower end of the container33 and diagonally extending through the tube 35 as well as within theportion of the container 33 above the shoulders 38 will break loose anybridging effect and cause the feed to drop downwardly freely through thetube 35. As above indicated, the wire will be of sufiicient elasticityto permit the ends 47 and 48 to be sprung together for admission intothe container 33 and also for withdrawing therefrom by simply pulling onthe base Wire 39.

Therefore it is to be seen that I have provided a very simple but mosteffective device for initially preventing and later overcoming bridgingaction of ground materials carried in an inverted container, and while Ihave described the device in the one particularly simple form, it isobvious that structural changes may be made, particularly in theformation of the lower end of the wire bends, all without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limitedto that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a dry feed container open at its under side anda feed pan receiving feed on its floor from the container and spacedbelow said side, of a device for agitating feed within the container toovercome bridging, comprising a wire member having a transverse portionfreely resting on the pan floor and exceeding the diameter of thecontainer opening, and free leg lengths extending from the ends of saidportion, said leg lengths extending upwardly and diagonally crossingeach other at a zone within the container to have free ends of thoselegs disposed in spaced apart relation well up in the container abovesaid zone.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said transverse portion of saidwire member and the slope of said legs allows the plane of the legs tobe inclined to present said transverse portion outwardly beyond theextent of said container lower side.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the spacing apart of said leg freeends is less than the internal diameter of said container.

4. The structure of claim 1 in which said container has a lesserdiameter adjacent said under side than throughout its major length, andthe spacing apart of said leg free lengths is greater than said lesserdiameter and less than the diameter of said major length, and saidcrossing zone is within said container lesser diameter portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 16,015Denmark May 28, 1912

